Prosecuting Managers of Foreign Corporations for Equipping Iraq with Chemical Weapons from the Perspective of International Criminal Law and German Criminal Law

There is no doubt that the use of chemical weapons by the Iraqi Baath regime in the imposed war against Iran and its massive human casualties, as well as the pain and suffering caused by these attacks for the victims, have been the darkest and most painful consequences of this country's imposed war against Iran. The description of chemical attacks as a war crime has been established and recognized in international law. Without the complicity of foreign companies, the Baath regime in Iraq was not able to produce and use chemical weapons during its imposed war against Iran. Therefore, intending to protect the rights of the victims of chemical attacks, this article deals with the feasibility study of prosecuting the managers of corporations involved in equipping Iraq with chemical weapons from the perspective of international criminal law and German criminal law. The findings of this article show that the liability model of "aiding and abetting" concerning foreign corporations is evident, and also, by paying attention to the history of prosecution of managers of corporations involved in committing international crimes in the years after World War II and the judicial procedure resulting from it, the criminal responsibility of managers of corporations is established and recognized from the perspective of international criminal law. In addition, according to the legal bases in German criminal law, that is, paragraph 9 of section 6 of the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch – StGB) on the one hand, as well as the history of the trial of former Yugoslavian nationals in German courts in the 90s and the judicial procedure resulting from it, on the other hand, the prosecution of managers of corporations has the necessary legal bases.